Religion Roundup from the Eyewitness News Newsroom

HAITI-AMERICANS DETAINED US Baptists' attorney in Haiti: Clients innocent

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
The new lawyer for 10 U.S. Baptists charged with child kidnapping says he believes they had paperwork to take 33 children out of the country after Haiti's devastating earthquake.

Attorney Aviol Fleurant's remarks came as investigators questioned the Baptist group's leader, Laura Silsby. As she left a courthouse in Port-au-Prince, Silsby told reporters, "I am trusting in God to reveal all truths and that we will be released and exonerated of charges."

The rest of the group's members will be questioned this week over allegations they tried to take the children to the neighboring Dominican Republic without proper documents.

The Baptists' Dominican lawyer, Jorge Puello, told a news conference that the Haitian court would drop all charges against his clients on Wednesday. Puello would not say where that information came from. Last week, he claimed nine of the 10 were about to be released.

TOYOTA-PRAYERS Kentucky lawmaker seeks prayers for Toyota

FRANKFORT, Ky.
A Kentucky lawmaker whose district includes a Toyota plant is urging people to pray for the automaker and its employees amid massive recalls that have tarnished the company's image.

State Rep. Charlie Hoffman says, "we definitely need to be pulling for them and praying for them to get through this situation."

Hoffman notes that many families depend on jobs provided by Toyota in "these perilous economic times." The automaker's production plant in Georgetown, Ky., employs about 6,600 full-time workers.

But last week, work shut down on one of two production lines at the Georgetown plant as Toyota dealt with fallout from a recall over a sticky accelerator.

Kim Menke, manager of community and government relations at the Georgetown plant, said Hoffman's prayer request was well received when he made it at a recent legislative breakfast.

WINTER WEATHER-DISABLED BUS Stranded church group finds food, comfort in Md.

HANCOCK, Md.
A Chicago church group stranded on a western Maryland highway after a ferocious weekend snowstorm has enjoyed food and football courtesy of a small-town volunteer fire department.

Hancock Fire Company Chief Greg Yost said Monday that 40 members of the Deliverance Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith joined local firefighters at their annual Super Bowl party Sunday night.

Yost says the group's bus broke down on Interstate 70 near Hancock as they were returning from a trip to Baltimore. So rescue workers brought the travelers to the fire hall for a feast of steak, shrimp, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked potatoes, spaghetti and chili.

He says they watched most of the Super Bowl before hitting the road in their repaired vehicle.

TEXAS CHURCH FIRES Arson blamed for another Texas church fire

DALLAS
Investigators have concluded that a seventh east Texas church fire this year was intentionally set.

Tom Crowley -- a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives -- says arson destroyed the sanctuary of the Russell Memorial United Methodist Church in Wills Point.

He previously had said arson caused six other east Texas church fires this year -- two in Tyler, one in nearby Lindale and three in the Athens area.

In central Texas, ATF agents from Houston concluded that arson was to blame for a fire last month that destroyed the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church in Temple.

No injuries have been reported. Crowley says some similarities have been found in the east Texas fires, but also some differences -- such as the different times of day the fires were set.

GLOBAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Congress told that U.S. should promote religious rights abroad

WASHINGTON
Members of Congress have been told that U.S. foreign policy should place greater importance on whether nations respect their citizens' religious rights.

Knox Thames , the Acting Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, told a House subcommittee that the freedom to practice, teach and change one's religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but is restricted in many countries.

He said promoting religious liberty can help fight terrorism and boost respect for other human rights.

But Thames noted that President Barack Obama, after more than a year in office, has yet to fill the State Department's position of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.

TEN COMMANDMENTS-COURTHOUSE Courthouse commandments display ignores Ga. law

REIDSVILLE, Ga.
Officials in Georgia's Tattnall County say they didn't know they were running afoul of state law when they let members of a Baptist church hang a framed copy of the Ten Commandments inside the county courthouse last week.

County Commission Chairman Frank Murphy says officials told members of Ella Grove Baptist Church that they could display the biblical text inside the courthouse because it's a historical document.

What they didn't realize is a 2006 state law requires eight other documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, to be posted alongside the Ten Commandments to give them historical context.

Murphy says county officials will comply with the law. But Debbie Seagraves of the American Civil Liberties Union said the county should remove the Commandments until then.

INSTRUCTOR BIAS ACLU accuses science teacher of religion lessons

FRESNO, Calif.
The American Civil Liberties Union says a science instructor at Fresno City College is illegally teaching religious views on homosexuality and abortion as fact.

ACLU staff attorney Elizabeth Gill sent a letter to college officials on Monday about the introductory science class instructor, Bradley Lopez. Gill says Lopez's teaching methods violate California laws protecting gays from discrimination and prohibiting religious indoctrination at public schools.

Gill says several students have complained that he quoted the Bible to prove that human life begins at conception. They also say he characterized homosexuality as a mental illness that degrades society.

Telephone calls to Lopez and a college spokeswoman were not immediately returned.

VATICAN-SEX ABUSE Pope Benedict condemns child molestation by priests

VATICAN CITY
Pope Benedict XVI is condemning the molestation of children by priests, saying the church will never stop deploring such behavior.

Benedict says that for centuries the Catholic Church had shown its commitment to loving and respecting children and ensuring their basic human rights are respected.

But he says some priests, "acting in contrast to this commitment, have violated these rights -- a behavior that the church hasn't, and won't ever stop deploring and condemning."

In his speech Monday, Benedict said children deserve to be loved and respected by all, and that they flourish best in a family founded on the marriage between a man and woman. He added that couples should do everything possible to avoid separation and should stay together for the sake of their children.

SWEDEN-HANDSHAKE REFUSAL Muslim man wins discrimination case in Sweden

STOCKHOLM
Sweden's unemployment agency has been found guilty of discrimination for expelling a Muslim man from a job training program because he refused to shake hands with a woman.

A Stockholm court Monday ordered the Public Employment Service to pay the $6,700 in damages to an immigrant from Bosnia who lost his jobless benefits when he was kicked out of the program.

Citing his faith, the man had refused to shake hands with a woman when he was interviewing for an internship. The agency said his behavior was part of the reason he didn't get the position, and decided to exclude him from the program.

The court ruled that the man was discriminated against because of his religion. It wasn't immediately clear whether the ruling would be appealed.